Quantitative Determination of Albumin in Normal Urine by an Immunochemical Methoc

Abstract

An immunochemical technique, based on the hemagglutination-inhibition reaction, has been used to measure the albumin content of normal urine. The average value obtained in the morning urine of ten normal adults was 17.8 nig/liter. This value is consistent with those reported by other investigators. The advantages of the present method are that it does not require electrophoretic separation of the urinary proteins.

The albumin values obtained by the hemagglutination-inhibition technique were compared with those obtained by an immunochemical turbidimetric technique. Similar results were found when the tests were performed on unconcentrated urines. However, when urines were concentrated by ultra-filtration the results in the hemagglutination-inhibition tests were approximately twice the values found by the turbidimetric test. Further studies showed that the turbidimetric method does not accurately measure albumin in concentrated urines.